Pumpkins/Kleenex/Villette

I just re-wrote "hi" about 5 times, because it either looked too cheerful, or unpleasant.  Maybe I'll go with "hey" instead.

Hey.

What's up?

I have a head cold, and am going through Kleenex like Abbie goes through movie theater popcorn.  In short - we are in danger of running out quickly!  So, I am tired and sickly and stuff, but enough about that!  I don't feel like talking about head colds!!!

Went to Mom's last week after the parent-teacher conferences.  Boy, was that enlightening.  Kids are both doing great academically, but my sweet, sunshiny boy acts out at school, and I often don't hear of it (the word "overstimulated" was used).  As for Abbie, she's a genius, but has no capacity or inclination for concentration.  In both cases, I've been referred to the counselor.  Didn't want to go through that with the kids listening, so I'm going to call today.  Any support from afar you care to bestow on me, in whatever form, will be appreciated.  This is a very deep sort of hurt, and would love to know that you've got my back...or at least are sympathetic.

Moving on.

We went to Rolla to spend the rest of the week with my parents.  It was fun.  Wednesday night, Dad started reading The Hobbit to the kids, since they finished up Hugo last time.  I had started on The Hobbit earlier in the year, but stopped when I found out my dad wanted to read it to them.  Wouldn't want to scare him away from the idea.  He read it to me, you know.

Thursday, both my parents had to work, so we did, too!  We got out rakes and raked up a nice, comfy (if you don't count the sticks) pile of leaves.  Then, we spent the whole morning in it.  We swam at the indoor pool in town in the afternoon, and then met Mom at Rolla's new Kohl's.  We got her some autumn leaf dish towels as a present.  I made sure to purchase them before she got there.  She likes to not let me pay for stuff - even presents for herself.  She bought some stuff for the kids, and then we went back home and had yummy minute steaks for dinner.  Also, my dad made our next day's lunch:  chicken and sausage GUMBO.  Mom had Friday off, so we did all kinds of fun stuff.  My favorite was making Halloween cookies!!  There were some of the Pillsbury sugar cookies with designs on them, but also we made our own short bread cookies and used cookie cutters.  I love cookie cutters.  I have a basket full of them downstairs.  I even have a T-Rex cookie cutter.  Anyway, this recipe is the one the family always used at Christmas, so when I smell them, I think of my grandmother, and green sugar sprinkles...

Before I left town, we went for the first time to a place called South Central Creamery (http://sccreamery.com/).  Mom, despite being an authority on ice cream, had never been before.  I bought us each a cone.  It was good!  If you are in Rolla, even just passing through, go grab an ice cream cone!  I had a flavor called Mother Lode.  It had toffee in it.  Yum.  Also, it brought back a different set of memories.  When I was a little girl, Rolla had a Ruby's Ice Cream, and I never would have remembered that I used to always get banana flavored ice cream, if I hadn't seen it for sale at South Central Creamery.  Abbie had peach ice cream, Grant had Burgundy cherry, and Mom had butter pecan.

As I drove through Rolla on my way home, I made a brief detour.  We drove past the house that we lived in when Abbie was born, and then on to my own childhood neighborhood.  You'll be pleased to hear that the tulip tree poplar I planted when I was Grant's age is tall and beautiful.  Next to my house, is the Andersons' house.  Into the mailbox went a bag full of our freshly baked cookies.  I giggled at the thought of their finding it later.

I was already starting to feel unwell by the time I got back home.  I had to rush and grab some PR photos for taiko.  The rest of that evening is a little bit of a blur...  I think we ate....something?

Saturday, we went to the pumpkin patch.  It was really cold when we first got there.  I liked it pretty well.  We met with our dear friends the Pelikans and the Macneils.  I think the kids had a really good time, and we got some great pumpkins, and lots of happy pictures.  We ate there, too, which was....okay.Not bad food, but "festival" prices.  I ordered hot chocolate, and it was like life's blood.  I was revived!  The kids started to unravel at the end, so we whisked them all away.  I had asked Josh if we could stop on the way home and get bread bowls from Panera so I could make soup in bread bowls for dinner.  Josh said yes, but forgot.  He really didn't understand why I was gesturing frantically at that exit sign, saying, "JoshJoshJosh!!!"  He said to make it up to me, he would go back and get some after dropping me at home.  But what he did instead was take the kids and let them order off the menu for dinner, and bring me back a bread bowl and soup to have by myself.  It's not the same, even though it was my favorite soup.  After dinner, we watched Arsenic and Old Lace.

That night, I really developed a head cold.  It was bad.  I wonder if it was the one Julie had.  It looked pretty miserable.  I got up in the morning, determined to go to taiko, but was very dizzy, and Josh fussed at me and said I would just get everyone sick, so I went back to bed.

He's been like that since I got back.  He screamed and yelled when I told him that the music teacher wanted to push the kids' lessons back 10 minutes, since I'm always there early anyway, and she had another potential client trying to schedule a time.  And when I tried to talk to him about the change in my taiko commute because of bridge work, and how that would affect my picking up Michelle, he was so angry he drove me to tears.  Just today he informed me that any changes to my schedule effect him, because it's his car and his gas.  [I would like to take this time to announce that it's MY name on the car, because MINE is the good credit.  Plus, I made 10 payments on it.  He can argue for the gas money at present, since I haven't earned my own since June, but the TIME is not his.  Not.]

In the afternoon, Josh went to go fly the plane, and the kids and I started the pumpkins.  We also watched Labyrinth.  Grant and Abbie both got white pumpkins.  Abbie wanted me to draw Kiki and Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service on hers, but Grant wanted his carved.  I have never done a white pumpkin before; are they always that DENSE?  It was hard work!  But it looks great, and he's happy.  Josh came home just as I was starting mine.  We watched The Curse of the Ware-Rabbit and ate and finished dinner.  Then - Boggle time.  I won!  Yay!  I found Rites and Bites and Greens all in the same turn.  Go, me!

After the kids were bathed and put in bed, I finally finished Charlotte Bronte's Villette.  I didn't care for it.  Not only was it full of those ridiculously borderline run-on sentences of hers, but it was a sulky, cranky book.  She was frequently fixated on a fear of being forgotten, and also frequently determined to go on and on [not that this wasn't basically her style throughout the book] in rants of pro-Protestantism/anti-Catholicism.  Beyond that, she seemed to really think her audience would be surprised to run into previously introduced characters in a series of highly improbably coincidences - when there are only a dozen characters in THE WHOLE BOOK!  So, I found my intelligence insulted, my ire provoked, my spirits dampened and my patience tried from beginning to end.  How did that monstrosity ever become published?  

Now I just need to decide if I want to read my Dublin Murder Squad book next, or The Mysteries of Udolpho....

There was a sub job this morning, but someone else got it.  But!  Grant's teacher and the music teacher both put me on their sub lists!  That being said....I spent this morning on Career Builder.

Hope you are about to have a great week!

Plans

Well.  It would seem that "Columbia or Old St. Charles" translates into "Chesterfield Mall" in some languages, such as Husband.  Who knew?

Saturday was a fun day out.  First, we went to the Bush Wildlife Preserve and learned about venomous spiders and snakes, and poisonous plants.  Whee!  Then, we went somewhere I've never been for lunch.  Been to Chesterfield, MO?  Maybe you've heard of Mimi's Cafe.  Very yummy.  I recommend.  They cooked Josh's burger to a degree that he hadn't ordered, so we ended up with free muffins, and I never would have known about them otherwise.  They are GOOD.  Next time, I'm getting a cup of delicious soup and some of those darned muffins.  Yes, m'am.

After that, we went to Chesterfield Mall.  Josh wanted to go to Teavana.  I would like to say that again.  Josh, who for a decade has made fun of me for buying tea, wanted to go to TEAVANA.  Did you catch that?  Josh wanted to buy tea.  Yeah.  But it was Jasmine Mao Feng, so I can't even complain.  That, for those of you who don't already know, is my favorite tea.

We also visited many shops.  We bought waterproof gloves for the kids, so they can play in the snow this winter, and went to the V-Stop, where I found one of the 18 books I was looking for (actually, I found 2, but you know how I am about getting things for myself...) on sale for less than 6 dollars, and I even found a book that my ridiculously awesome cousin Missy recommended for my kids.  It was 3 dollars.  WIN!

I'm officially in the SubFinder system, but no work yet.  Tomorrow is a half day and parent-teacher conferences, so I'm not expecting to be called then, either.

Grant and Abbie have their conferences tomorrow, too.  Then, the plan is to go to my mom's house.  YAY!  We will spend Wednesday night there, and Thursday while Mom and Dad are at work.  Friday, I was going to hang out with my mom...but I just got an email saying there is a chance she'll get called in.  Well, that sucks.  I'm going back home Friday night. 

Saturday is the pumpkin patch.  I hope it is lots of fun, and I really, REALLY hope it doesn't rain.  Coldness can be fought against, but wetness is bad news.  My forecast hints at both.

I made an eye doctor's appointment.  I'm so excited; I've never had vision insurance before.  I tried to make it for a Monday morning, but that didn't work out, so I'm going in a week from Thursday.

None of my plans are working out.

Well, we are all happy and healthy here, how are you?  Well, happy for sure. 

I stayed for the Community Group practice after taiko on Sunday.  My back didn't do so well, so I'm going to take it easy tonight.  Not hard, since they will be practicing for a performance that I am not in.

The kids saw Ghostbusters for the first time this week.  Yeah....I forgot about most of the profanity.  My bad.  The kids are obsessed with Slimer.

Halloween Movie Lineup 2012:  Kiki's Delivery Service, Nightmare Before Christmas, Young Frankenstein, Little Shop of Horrors, Arsenic and Old Lace, Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Ware-Rabbit, Shawn the Sheep:  Little Sheep of Horrors, and possibly Spirited Away.  Naturally, in the interest of time, we will begin the movie viewing this weekend. 

I think Sunday is going to be Soup In A Breadbowl kind of weather.  What do you think?

Happy Tuesday! 

Freak

Yes, I am a freak.  I don't drink coffee, I do not find Honey Badger jokes even remotely appealing on any level, I never liked John Mayor, and I would rather research my candidate's voting records than listen to how he talks on TV.  I don't care about the debate.  At. All.  And to make matters worse, I'm not interested in telling you who I am for or against and why.

Did I just break the spell of illusion, or where you already convinced of my alien-ness?

I practiced taiko on Tuesday evening, and worked very hard.  I was worn out by the end, and feeling that happy tired.  I've missed that in my long absence from taiko.  Well, it seems long.  I was also looking forward to playing last night as well, but Fate made other plans. 

I know I mentioned my orientation, but I mis-spoke about the day.  It was Thursday. Sadly, by the time it was finished, practice had started, and I hadn't even been home to change clothes.  When you consider the hour drive to get there, I was pretty sure that all the parts of the practice that would have been applicable to me were long finished.

I did go to the library the other day.  I went Wednesday, armed with a list of 18 books to check out.  Isn't that a dizzyingly exciting thought?  Of those, my library contained 5.  Of those 5, only one was present.  I checked it out.

On my way out of the library, a 40ish-year-old man smoking a cigarette greeted me, and tried to engage me in conversation.  He even went so far as to follow me a few steps.  That was flattering.  Never been picked up at the library before.  Probably I was the only one in several blocks that wasn't significantly over social security age.

I finished the book.  It was Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger.  It wasn't at all what I was expecting.  There wasn't any mystery - it was quite straightforward.  There were no light moments.  It was a tense, depressing, dark slog.  Several characters showed signs of being likable, but then did reprehensible things that diminished my opinions of them.  In short - I didn't enjoy it.  I wonder if I should bother trying to get one of the other books on my list from the library when I return it.

Today, I ought to be grocery shopping.  I ought to be cleaning.  Friday was always cleaning day in my mind.  Instead, I haven't dressed yet.  It's cold, here, and my fingers and nose are especially chilly.  I had leftover Chinese for lunch, and it didn't make me feel better.  I think I'd like tea, but I drank two cups before bed last night, and I'm just not sure I should have more.

I signed up on Subfinder, but it won't show me any jobs, because it says I need to update my technology agreement.  Actually, when I did my paperwork it included the new agreement, so that is not correct, and needs to be updated.  I emailed the lady, but got an auto-response.  She won't be in today.

Josh is going to be late tonight.  Why only on Fridays?

Today, I spiked Grant's hair up into 2 antennae.  I put a short, thick braid on the back of Abbie's head, a small, high pony tail on her left temple, and a long, thin braid along her right cheek.  It's Crazy Hair Day at school.

I asked the family if they want to go to Columbia or to Old St. Charles tomorrow for the day.  I don't know what I'm looking for, there, but look I shall.

I started reading Charlotte Bronte's Villette today.  I'm not sure what I think, just yet, but I'm certainly not in raptures.

I need...something.

And a side of Meh.

Feeling kinda gloomy and worthless, in spite of beautiful fall weather, and a life that I probably don't deserve.

News on the job front:  Orientation for substituting tomorrow.  Totally inconvenient time - after school, but before Josh gets home.  Not sure they actually thought of that themselves, but when I called, they said the kids could come if they sit quietly and read. 

My house needs to be cleaned, because I'm a bad person.

Made soft tacos for dinner.  They were a hit.

Need to go to Wentzville tomorrow to exchange a belt that Josh bought in the wrong size.  If I hurry up and shower, I will go to the library today to look for a kids book that I want to read before I decide whether or not to buy it for the kids.

Yeah.  Kinda depressed.  Tried chocolate.  It didn't help.  This is getting serious, and there is no bubble tea on the way to taiko anymore.

Sniffle.

Lazy Day

This morning I fed the kids and made their lunches and took them to school.  Then, I came home, made some English tea....and that was pretty much it.  And I feel plenty guilty because it's Monday, and some of my dear friends are out there having a rough day.  To you, I send hugs!

Here is a song in honor of my day.  [Be advised that it includes strong language.]  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVIIUaWxvb8&feature=youtu.be

I had a busy weekend, though, just in case you were thinking that vegetating was becoming a habit with me.  Friday evening we went to the Warrenton High School homecoming football game.  Oh, the flashbacks!  Abbie loved the cheerleaders, much to my dismay.

Saturday we took the kids to Lowes, where they each made a "Ghoulbus".  Very cute.  Josh also bought a giant peace lily to put in his office at work.  Then we [read: ME] finished the Halloween wreath, and the following clean-up.  We went grocery shopping, and made breakfast for dinner.  Remind me not to let Josh do the scrambled eggs next time...

Yesterday, I had a PR meeting for taiko, so I was leaving an hour early.  Michelle had asked to be picked up, so I left even earlier.  I called her on the way to make sure she was awake, since she doesn't really do mornings.  Then, when I had just got off the interstate at her exit, she called again to say she wasn't coming after all.  So, I was the first one at the meeting.  Meeting went well, and very long.  When we were done, there was only an hour of taiko practice left.  Probably good for me, who was out of shape.  I was tired, too.  I had planned to rest Saturday, and even cancelled a lot of fun plans in order to GET rest, but had been busy anyway.  After practice I was very ready to go.  ...But Andrew was in dismay that all the other taiko members were going to Kari's BBQ, and no one could stay and help him with the Community Group.  I called Josh to see if it would be a problem to stay a while.  He was helping his sister move, and said it was fine.  I didn't plan on staying long, but I ended up staying till nearly the end.  No wonder Andrew wanted a hand - the group is enormous!  Many of them are doing really well, too.  One or two are hopeless.

When I came home, we watched Alton Brown's Juicy Meats DVD.  We were having steak for dinner, so it counts as research.  ^_^  Then the Keiths came over for a while to play.  Brianna is so big.  I need to take a picture of her next to Abbie, because it's just funny.  Abbie tried to pick Bree up.  That was worth watching....  After they left we had steak, cheesy rice and wax beans.  It was yummy, but having wax beans next to cheesy rice gives dinner a somewhat anemic appearance. 

Speaking of food and recipes, I have some friends who are planning to make Butterbeer with their kids for Halloween.  The idea is certainly fun!  However, they were planning to make the cold variety.  I got out my Harry Potter, and the first butterbeer he ever had was very definitely described as a hot drink.  So I looked up some recipes, and this one caught my eye:  http://www.chicaandjo.com/2010/09/10/hot-butterbeer-recipe/  Now I just need to adjust it to make lots more. Did you notice that it's easy to spike? *wink, wink*

That's some of the "nothing" that I did today.  I also watched the latest of the Lizzie Bennett Diaries, which are again using plot pieces that I recognize!  She still isn't the lovable Lizzie I would have hoped for, and so far the two men who appeared in the series are a little to stagey in their acting, but I just can't help being irresistibly drawn to it all.

Oh!  And I read a Victorian "thriller" short story that hinted [okay, by hinted I mean stated outright] that green tea was thought to be responsible for the strange actions of people, and even to open their mind to demonic possession.  COOL!  The story wasn't super interesting, so I won't go into it, but isn't that neat trivia?

I've also been reading Daddy Long Legs again.  [Well, I was sick last week, remember?  I always read that when I'm sick.]  And again I am struck with how adorable that girl is, how modern education sucks, and how little I understand her descriptions of clothing fabrics.  Although I looked up challis, and it is a patterned woven cloth. 


Forgot to mention that we played Boggle for our Family Game Night.  Love Boggle.  Josh had to drop out early to do homework, so I won the game.  Usually he beats me, though.  Very humbling.

And now...I must go. 

Smooches to all of you.

p.s.  I'm making soft tacos for dinner.  Doesn't that sound yummy?

Unique

Grant gave me the most unique birthday present I've ever had.  It was a stomach virus.  He got it at the Apple Festival, and thought it was so memorable, he just couldn't help but share it.  I've never had a birthday present like it!

Would you like me to start where I left off?  Jake has a tumor.  It's okay.  I had it checked, and it's non-cancerous, so you can go ahead and do your Arnold impersonation now.  And Callie is on the pudgy side, not unusual for a lab mix.  That is all the vet news. 

The rest of the week was good, I think.  It's a touch hard to remember.  A lot of things have happened since.

On Friday we left for Versailles!  I took Motrin, and my back was fine. We read in the forecast that the low temperatures would be below freezing, so instead of camping in Gran's field, we packed the small tent for the kids and they camped in her living room.  We did go play in the field, though, when we got there - even though the sun was setting.

Nanny came over in the morning, and we went to the festival - armed with thick sweaters/sweatshirts/jackets and mittens.  We parked where we always do, but the ponies weren't there!  Josh eventually found a sign, and we made it.  Abbie rode Bella, and Grant rode Socks.  Everyone was super nice.  Then, we wandered a little, and found spots for the parade - right across from the Bank of Versailles.  My grandfather used to work there, you know.  The kids and Nanny got giant corn dogs, Josh got a cheeseburger and I got a very yummy tenderloin sandwich.  Then, we watched the parade.  It's a HUGE parade!!  I think they said there were 96 entries.  Wow.  Lots of politicians, and lots of tractors.  Lots of candy, too!  And after the parade we did more wandering and shopping.  At that point, the temperature, which was only barely cooperative to begin with, dropped.  Not much fun after that.  The kids did play a giant chess game, and Josh bought them a new chess set, complete with a chess book, signed by the author.  And I bought pies and goodies for my friends and family, while Nanny listened to the steel drummers.  Then, on our way out, Josh got a SHOEBOX FULL OF CURLY FRIES!  No kidding, folks.  Huge.  They are called Texas Twister fries.  He got cheese on his, instead of ketchup.  The only sad part is that the air was so cold that they didn't stay warm long.  Cold cheese fries = not my fave.

We spent the evening making food so that when Gran came home from her trip, she would very obviously not need to cook.  And Nanny had made cupcakes, and we decorated them like Jack-O-Lanterns.  It was fun.  And we also watched The Phantom of the Opera.  Gran came, and I even got to see my mother briefly, and all was cozy and happy....until after bed time when Grant started to vomit.  Oh, yeah.  That was a mess.  And the end of the fun. 

We tried to leave first thing, but Gran wanted to cook for us.  It was almost noon when we left.  We did have to make some unscheduled stops for Sicky, but we were prepared with bags, etc.  Still, not fun.  Then we made it home, and I called the school to say that Grant wouldn't be in it the next day.  We unpacked, and I took care of poor Grant.

He was feeling much better Monday, when we both went to pick up Abbie.  Sadly....I wasn't.  I had to pull over on the way home, and then as soon as we got in the door, Abbie threw up, too, so I had to take care of her, as well.  Josh came home complaining of queasiness, but I figured, "He's a grown man, and I know from his career in the military that this is NOT the first time he's thrown up [cough, cough, booze], so surely he is one person I don't have to take care of."  Uh...wrong.  And if that wasn't bad enough - my grandmother AND mother also caught it.  [To clarify - I didn't have to take care of them or anything, I just felt guilty at having been the source of the germs - indirectly, through my son.]

Fast forward to Wednesday, when everyone was better...mostly.  At least, we weren't violently ill.  I actually got out of bed and uploaded taiko pictures for hours and hours instead of sleeping.  Grant had his first Discovery class, and that was great fun, but meant that I had to pick him up at the other school.  When poor Abbie came to the car she said, "I can't find my brother!!"  It was so heartbreaking!  But I reassured her at once, and then she was fine.  Next week, I might write her a little reminder note.

Yesterday was Thursday, and I thought I was better, but I really wasn't.  Again, I got out of bed.  This time, I was applying for a job.  It was a Corporate Training Coordinator in Lake St. Louis, and I really wanted it.  I wrote probably my best ever cover letter (oooh, the rhyminess!), and since it just happens to be at Josh's work - I thought I would at least get an interview, based on the fact that I'm not a total stranger.  Just found out a few minutes ago that this isn't the case.  I didn't get it.

Anyway, I wasn't ready to taiko yet, I could tell.  And then, about 3:30ish....I got better.  Really.  It's freaky the way you suddenly feel human again.  Wow.  I didn't know how cranky I was, either, until I suddenly wasn't.  And I talked to both my mother and grandmother, and they are both fine (WHEW) and Nanny never got it at all. 

So, today I'm doing laundry, and I've already cleaned my room up, and I'm making plans to take the family to the Warrenton High School homecoming football game tonight.

Hee.

Tomorrow we are making the Halloween wreath I bought supplies for, and resting.  Then, I finally return to taiko on Sunday!  I can't wait, because you know what I did while I was stuck in bed?  Wrote a song!  Take THAT, 12-hour-stomach virus!!

I also signed up for Goodreads.  You on that?  Look me up.  ^_^  I now have a list of books I can't wait to get a hold of. 

And did I mention that my perpetually undead maple looks BEAUTIFUL?  Well, it does.

Good health to you, my friends.  Drink your yucky orange juice!

One day you're drinking tea, and then...

Good morning.  Well, kinda.

Abbie has a cold (guess who is next!) and my back is hurting.  This is the "Stop it right now - or else," hurting and not the, "Hey guess what - we're not 19 anymore," hurting.  Naturally.  Because in about 20 minutes I have to lift 2 unwilling and HEAVY dogs into the car for their vet appointments, and the plan for the upcoming weekend is to walk all day and sleep on a cot.  Fabulous.

Oh, well!  That's what they made Motrin for, right?

I don't get to attend taiko practice tonight.  I'm bummed, but Josh is on a business trip again, and I am not in the upcoming shows, so I have no right to gripe.  I suspect, though, that if I had been at practice on Thursday and Sunday, my back would be much happier today. 

My insomnia is back, too.  Last night was the kind where you wake up about every hour, and it takes you about 20 minutes to get back to sleep, so the outcome is that you are about half as rested physically and about 1 millionth as rested mentally as you had hoped to be.

Well, enough of that negative stuff.  I'm not really in a bad mood at all.  The sunrise was great this morning.  When I was leaving my house, the sky was a slate color, and very smooth.  The moon looked so, so, so white!  Not the usual tarter on the teeth color or the faded socks color.  It was beautiful.  As we neared the school, the cirrus clouds were that nice sunrise pink on the light sides, and deep blue on the shadow side of the more plump cumulus.  And the stratus clouds near the sun were bright, shiny pink copper.  By the time I was back home again, the gold had arrived.

Strange song of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBWxjAiO_KQ&feature=relmfu

Back feeling worse.  What should I do?

Today I will need to take care of some laundry and dishes and such.  I don't remember what I need to take care of tomorrow.  With any luck, it's a nap.

Did I tell you about my Grandmother visiting?  It was wonderful.  She and my mother came, and we wanted to have lunch at Brewskis, but when we got there, it was closed.  So I got to eat at the new Wendy's.  They have the new and fancy drink dispensers there, with the touch screens.  I still hate touch screens, but they are about to take over the world, so I surrender.  I had a chicken sandwich.  It was perfect.

When we came back, I poured tea.  Mom and the kids played, I talked with Gran.  We also watched them play bocce ball for a while.  Josh watched football.  It was actually very comfy and nice.  I was sad when they left.  Gran left the most delicious zucchini bread!  She left the recipe, too.  ;)

Life is good, but I must take the doggies to be poked.  Hope you are having a wonderful day.  I have no philosophy to spread today, but look out - I've been reading Ben Franklin. 

Mata, ne!